Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been silent on the plight of the Rohingya, a Muslim minority that is being systematically oppressed by Buddhist extremists and the Burmese government. Late last year, Nobel laureates Malala Yousufzai and Desmond Tutu were among those who signed a letter addressed to the UN Security Council, criticizing her for failing to act against the violence, and warned that Burma was showing the “hallmarks of recent past tragedies — Rwanda, Darfur, Bosnia, Kosovo.” (AFP)

Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been silent on the plight of the Rohingya, a Muslim minority that is being systematically oppressed by Buddhist extremists and the Burmese government.

The Oslo Freedom Forum (OFF), with which I have been associated for the past few years, is a remarkable event, for several reasons. It has been variously described as ‘Davos for dissidents,’ and ‘Aspen for activists,’ because it brings together people from all over the world who are fighting the good fight for democracy and human rights – invariably at great personal risk. These amazing people gather in the Norwegian capital to tell stories about their struggle, which are always inspiring, and which sometimes reduces the audience to tears.

The official high point of the OFF is the annual awarding of the Vaclav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent, but for me the real satisfaction comes from being part of private conversations, in which the activists share advice and best practices with each other. It’s fascinating to observe how the techniques and tactics that you develop in the fight against the tyrants in Cuba, for instance, can come in handy for people struggling against tyrants in North Korea, Syria, and Saudi Arabia.

But perhaps the most remarkable thing at this year’s OFF actually got almost no attention at all. During his speech, Thor Halvorssen, the Forum’s founder, noted how “profoundly heartbreaking” it was that Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been silent on the plight of the Rohingya, a Muslim minority that is being systematically oppressed by Buddhist extremists and the Burmese government. Why is a line in a speech important? Because Suu Kyi was among the first recipients of the Havel Prize, one of many she got when she was a human-rights icon, and yet this was the first time I had heard direct criticism from someone who had previously honoured her.

Halvorssen’s words were on my mind when, later that evening, I walked to the Nobel Peace Centre on the Oslo harbour. This lovely, light-yellow building is a museum to the Peace Laureates and their work. (The Nobel Peace prize is awarded at the imposing town hall across the square; all the other Nobels are given in Stockholm, Sweden.) Suu Kyi has been honoured at the museum since she won the prize, in 1991.

What, I wondered, would be the reaction if the Nobel committee followed Halvorssen’s example and criticised Suu Kyi? What if they went further, and rescinded the prize, and demanded the return of the prize money? (Suu Kyi received 6 million Swedish krona, which would be worth nearly $1 million today.)

It would make sense, I think, to go further still: the committee should conduct, every five years, an audit of the work and words of all living laureates. Those found to have fallen conspicuously short of the Nobel ideals, and their own standards, should be denounced, as publicly as they had once been celebrated. Perhaps a room could be set aside in the museum, a Hall of Shame for cashiered laureates, to serve as cautionary tales for future awardees. In fact, before they received their prize at the town hall, every future awardee could be required to spend time in the Hall of Shame, just so they know the consequences of betraying their principles.

Okay, so maybe that last idea was a bit much. But a prize that can be rescinded would certainly carry greater value, and it would also give the committee the chance to correct some of the more risible mistakes it has made in recent years. Glancing down the list of living laureates (it’s hard to shame someone already dead), I can think of five others who should be required to turn in their medals: European Union (2012), Barack Obama (2009), Mohammed El Baradei (2005), Kofi Anan (2001), Henry Kissinger (1973). The EU has disgraced itself with its treatment of refugees; Obama’s sins of omission have cost hundreds of thousands of lives in Syria; El Baradei betrayed Egypt’s democracy by backing the military coup; Kofi Anan must answer for his failure to act in Rwanda, and for the oil-for-food scandal in the UN; and Kissinger should arguably be in jail for his role in war crimes in Indochina, Bangladesh and Chile.

Back to Aung San Suu Kyi. There have been several appeals to the better angels of her nature, as well as attempts to use ignominy as the key to unlock her conscience. Late last year, Nobel laureates Malala Yousufzai and Desmond Tutu were among those who signed a letter addressed to the UN Security Council, criticising her for failing to act against the violence, and warned that Burma was showing the “hallmarks of recent past tragedies — Rwanda, Darfur, Bosnia, Kosovo.” All these attempts have failed. Perhaps she’s so far gone that even the withdrawal of the Nobel would leave her unmoved. But it would nonetheless send a powerful message to the world, and restore some shine to the most important prize in the world.

Chibok school girls recently freed from Boko Haram captivity are seen in Abuja, Nigeria, Sunday, May 7, 2017. (AP)

Associated Press, Nigeria

Monday, 8 May 2017

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari expressed joy Sunday night at meeting with the 82 Chibok schoolgirls newly freed from Boko Haram extremists – then jolted the country by announcing he was leaving for London immediately for medical checkups as fears for his health continue.

“We’ve always made it clear that we will do everything in our power to ensure the freedom & safe return of our daughters” and all captives of Boko Haram, Buhari said on his Twitter account.

Minutes later, the 74-year-old president startled Africa’s most populous nation with the news of his departure. Buhari, who has missed three straight weekly Cabinet meetings, spent a month and a half in London on medical leave earlier this year and said he’d never been as sick in his life. The exact nature of his illness remained unclear.

“There is no cause for worry” about this latest medical leave, a statement from his office said, adding that the length of Buhari’s stay in London will be determined by his doctors.

Photos released by the government showed the rail-thin president standing and addressing the Chibok schoolgirls at his official residence Sunday evening, a day after their release.

“The president was delighted to receive them and he promised that all that is needed to be done to reintegrate them into the society will be done,” adviser Femi Adesina said. “He promised that the presidency will personally supervise their rehabilitation.”

The young women have been handed over to government officials who will supervise their re-entry into society, Adesina said. The International Committee of the Red Cross, which helped negotiate the girls’ release along with the Swiss government, said they would be reunited with their families soon.

Five Boko Haram commanders were released in exchange for the girls’ freedom, a Nigerian government official said Sunday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to reporters on the matter. Neither Nigeria’s government nor Boko Haram, which has links to the Islamic State group, gave details about the exchange.

Parents of the schoolgirls were waiting for a government list of names of those who had been freed.
Some parents of the kidnapped girls gathered in the capital, Abuja, to celebrate the release, while others expressed anxiety over the fate of the 113 girls who remain missing after the mass abduction from a Chibok boarding school in 2014.

The Rev. Enoch Mark, whose two daughters have been among the missing, was still awaiting word if they were among those freed. He emphasized that he considered all 82 of the girls to be his daughters “because most of them worship in my church.”

Some parents did not live long enough to see their daughters released, underscoring the tragedy of the three-year saga. And the recovery process is expected to be a long one for the girls, many of whom endured sexual assault during their captivity.

“They will face a long and difficult process to rebuild their lives after the indescribable horror and trauma they have suffered at the hands of Boko Haram,” said Pernille Ironside, acting representative of UNICEF Nigeria.

Boko Haram seized a total of 276 girls in the 2014 abduction. Girls who escaped early on said some of their classmates had died from illness. Others did not want to come home because they’d been radicalized by their captors, they said.
Human rights advocates also fear some of the girls have been used by Boko Haram to carry out suicide bombings.

Last year, a first group of 21 Chibok girls was freed in October, and they have been in government care for medical attention, trauma counseling and rehabilitation. Human rights groups have criticized the decision to keep the girls in custody in Abuja, nearly 900 kilometers (560 miles) from Chibok.

It was not immediately clear whether the newly freed girls would join them.

They should be quickly released to their families and not be subjected to lengthy government detention, Amnesty International’s Nigeria office said, adding that the girls don’t deserve to be put through a “publicity stunt” and deserve privacy.

Though Boko Haram has abducted thousands of people during its eight-year insurgency that has spilled across Nigeria’s borders, the Chibok mass kidnapping horrified the world and brought the extremist group international attention.

The failure of Nigeria’s former government to act quickly to free the girls sparked a global Bring Back Our Girls movement; US first lady Michelle Obama posted a photo with its logo on social media.

The Bring Back Our Girls campaign said Sunday it was happy that Nigeria’s government had committed to rescuing the 113 remaining schoolgirls, and it urged the president to “earnestly pursue” the release of everyone held by Boko Haram.

Buhari late last year announced Boko Haram had been “crushed,” but the group continues to carry out attacks in northern Nigeria and neighboring countries. Its insurgency has killed more than 20,000 people and driven 2.6 million from their homes, with millions facing starvation.

He is scheduled to head from Cairo airport to meetings with Muslim and Christian leaders before visiting a church that had been bombed in December. (AFP)

Reuters, The Associated Press, Cairo

Friday, 28 April 2017

Leaders of all faiths should unite in renouncing religious extremism and counter the “barbarity of those who foment hatred and violence,” Pope Francis said on Friday at the start of a two-day visit to Cairo.

“Let us say once more a firm and clear ‘No!’ to every form of violence, vengeance and hatred carried out in the name of religion or in the name of God,” the pope told a peace conference at Egypt’s Al Azhar university, the revered, 1,000-year-old seat of learning in Sunni Islam that trains clerics and scholars from around the world.

Francis’s trip, aimed at improving ties between Muslims and Roman Catholics, comes three weeks after ISIS suicide bombers killed at least 45 people in two Egyptian churches.

The Pope is urged the leading imams to teach their students to reject violence in God’s name and preach peace, dialogue and reconciliation – not instigation to conflict.

Francis recalled that Egypt’s ancient civilization valued the quest for knowledge and open-minded education, and that a similar commitment is required today to combat what he called the “barbarity” of religious extremism.

Francis spoke to the grand imam, Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, and other clerics on the first day of a two-day visit to Cairo.

He says religious leaders were obliged to “expose attempts to justify every form of hatred in the name of religion, and to condemn these attempts as idolatrous cariacatures of God.”

Francis was interrupted with applause several times.

While el-Tayeb has strongly condemned Islamic extremism, Egypt’s pro-government media has accused Al-Azhar of failing to do enough to reform the religious discourse in Islam.

Speaking alongside Francis, Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, the top imam at Al-Azhar, says the ground has been paved for “monolithic” religions to play their role in realizing equality, justice and the human rights.

Tayeb says there are more “barbarian” attacks in today’s world than at any time in history.

He says Egypt’s Al-Azhar was working on reinforcing a culture of co-existence and respect for dialogue.

Two-day visit

Earlier, Francis came to Egypt on Friday for a historic two-day visit aimed at presenting a united Christian-Muslim front to repudiate violence committed in God’s name.

The Catholic pontiff is holding a series of deeply symbolic meetings in Cairo with Egypt’s religious and political leaders.

Francis will also show solidarity and bring a message of peace to a country that has for years endured an increasingly emboldened insurgency led by a local affiliate of the extremist ISIS.

The pontiff’s Friday-Saturday visit will also lift the spirits of Egypt’s large Christian community after three suicide bombings since December – including deadly twin Palm Sunday church attacks – killed at least 75 people. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Red carpet welcome

After taking off from Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci airport, Francis stepped out of the Alitalia jet to a red carpet welcome in the early afternoon hours in Cairo. Two children, a girl in a white dress and a boy in a black tuxedo, presented Francis with bouquets of flowers.

From the airport, Francis was taken to the presidential palace, the opulent Ittihadya, where he met with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi. Both leaders stood to attention as a military band played the national anthems of the Vatican and Egypt.

The goal of the trip is to bring a message of peace to a country that has been ravaged by extremist attacks, and encourage a culture of respect and tolerance for religious minorities, said Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state.

“The fundamental issue is education, and educating those of different religious beliefs and especially the young, to have great respect for those of other faiths,” Parolin told the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano. “The question of language is fundamental: when you use a violent language, there is the danger that it can result in violent acts.”

Later Friday, Francis will head to the seat of the Coptic Orthodox Church, which accounts for about 10 percent of Egypt’s 92 million people, to meet the Christian patriarch – the “other” pope, Tawadros II of the Coptic Orthodox Church.

Francis and Tawadros will preside over an ecumenical prayer service in St. Peter’s church, the Coptic cathedral that was the site of a December suicide bombing claimed by ISIS militants that killed 30 people.

Together they will pray for the victims of the attacks.

Francis has frequently spoken out about today’s Christian martyrs and the “ecumenism of blood” that has united Catholic, Orthodox and other Christians targeted for their faith by extremist militants.

Parolin, the Vatican No. 2, said he hoped Francis’ visit might help convince them to “stay in their countries despite the difficulties and continue to give their Christian testimony in a majority Muslim society.”

While Francis eschewed the armored popemobile his predecessors used on foreign trips, security was visibly tightened for the 27 hours he will be on the ground in Cairo.

Streets that will be used by the pontiff’s motorcade around the Coptic Orthodox cathedral and the Vatican Embassy were cleared of cars, and police swarmed the upscale Cairo neighborhood of Zamalek on a Nile River island where Francis will sleep on Friday.

Policemen in riverboats patrolled the Nile in front of the embassy. Security men were posted every hundred meters (yards) or so along the 20-kilometer (12-mile) stretch between the airport and central Cairo in anticipation of Francis’ arrival. Armored cars were stationed in front of the presidential palace, where Francis makes his first stop.

The pope’s visit, however, is unlikely to cause much disruption to the city of some 18 million people as it falls on the Muslim Friday-Saturday weekend, when the usually congested traffic is significantly lighter.

Banners in the Zamalek neighborhood welcomed Francis, with one from a private company saying “1,000,000 workers of Sharm el-Sheikh welcome the pontiff.”

Violent conflicts and increasing displacement have deepened food shortages in many places, he said, warning that the dangerous combination of factors risked making the current crisis worse than the 2011 drought in the Horn of Africa that killed more than 260,000 people.

“A repeat must be avoided at all costs,” he told reporters in Geneva, pointing out that UNHCR’s operations in famine-hit Nigeria, South Sudan, Somalia and Yemen were funded at between just three and 11 percent.

As a whole, the United Nations has requested $4.4 billion to address the famine crisis in the four countries, but has so far received only $984 million, or 21 percent, UN humanitarian agency spokesman Jens Laerke said.

“It is now urgent that the shortfalls be addressed,” Edwards said, pointing out that some 20 million people across the affected countries are in areas affected by drought, including 4.2 million refugees.

Yemen, which is already experiencing the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, 17 million people, or around 60 percent of the war-torn country’s population, is going hungry.

A report by the United Nations World Food Programme outlined the official hunger statistics (known as IPC’s) for March this year in Yemen.

It stated: “The situation continues to deteriorate by the day; together we are facing down the very real threat of a conflict-induced famine.

“Even though there is no statistical confirmation of famine in Yemen a number of UN agencies and partners concur that pockets of famine already exist.”

In conflict-ravaged South Sudan, where the UN already warned in February that fighting, insecurity, lack of access to aid and the collapsing economy had left 100,000 people facing starvation, “a further one million people are now on the brink of famine,” Edwards said.

Libya – After more than five years in prison, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi resurfaced as a free man – his name back in the limelight, especially among supporters of his father, Muammar Gaddafi, who began mobilization efforts to bring the heir to the political scene. Can Saif al-Islam be a strong rival in the future race for power or will his return provoke a crisis?

At the moment, no one can predict Saif al-Islam Gaddafi’s plans following his release from prison and whether he will return to the political scene by virtue of his supporters, or if he would prefer to remain in the shadows.

If we look at the Libyan arena and diagnose the political trends, we would find that the second son of Muammar Gaddafi, despite his absence for years, remains popular and admired by a group of Libyans, especially tribes loyal to his father’s regime which began to arrange for his return by forming the Popular Front for the Liberation of Libya and nominated him for leadership.

Political experience and social relations

Ashraf Abdel Fattah, member of the Supreme Council of Libyan Tribes and Cities, one of the most important gatherings still loyal to the former regime and supporting the return of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi to power, considered that “most Libyans believe that he is the one capable to bring the country together and ensure its security, given his political experience and social relations with all regions of Libya which qualify him to be the key link between all these groups”.

Saif al-Islam Qaddafi, son of late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, attends a hearing behind bars in a courtroom in Zintan May 25, 2014. (Reuters)

In an interview with Al Arabiya, Ashraf Abdel Fattah disclosed: “The great popularity of Saif al-Islam will qualify him to have a political future in leading the country as he is the one who can solve all these complex problems, foremost of which is peace and social reconciliation among all the tribes. He is appreciated and respected among the tribes. In questionnaires carried out by several Libyan and foreign media, Saif al Islam Gadhafi top the charts with a large margin.”

Politically finished

However, another section of Libyan society rules out his return and consider him finished politically, with the fall of his father’s regime – with no way back, considering that his return to the political arena will complicate matters even further.

The political analyst Fawzi Al-Haddad ruled out in an interview with Al Arabiya that “Saif al Islam would have any role now”. Adding that “the Libyan problem will not be solved by the return of the former regime”.

He added that “the frustration is the reason why some Libyans believe that Saif al Islam Gaddafi will have the answers to the country’s problems, but in fact all the influential ruling powers are focused on the future of the country not the past, his return means a waste of the sacrifices made by so many to get rid of him and the regime of his father.

The Libyan journalist Faraj Mohammed Ali al-Maliki also agrees that: “The return of Saif al-Islam to the scene now will only complicate things for at least a few more years. Furthermore, he has no real supporter’s base.”

Kathrada, beloved by millions of South Africans, spent 26 years in jail, many of them alongside Nelson Mandela.

Anti-apartheid activist Ahmed Kathrada, who spent 26 years in jail – many of them alongside Nelson Mandela – for acts of sabotage against South Africa’s white minority government, died in Johannesburg on Tuesday morning at the age of 87.

He had been admitted to hospital with blood clotting in his brain earlier this month.

Kathrada was born on August 21, 1929, to Indian immigrant parents in a small town in northwestern South Africa .

He was among those tried and jailed alongside Mandela in the Rivonia trial in 1964, which drew worldwide attention and highlighted the brutal legal system under the apartheid regime.

Kathrada was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1964 and spent 26 years and three months in prison, 18 of which were on Robben Island.

After the end of apartheid, he served from 1994 and 1999 as parliamentary counsellor to President Mandela in the first African National Congress (ANC) government.

Al Jazeera’s Tania Page, reporting from Johannesburg, said that it was a sad day in South Africa – where Kathrada was affectionately known as “Uncle Kathy” – as tributes poured in about his widely perceived kindness, humility, and honesty.

He had been a major part of many South African’s memories over decades of anti-apartheid struggle, Page said.

“I think his passing is sort of signalling to South Africans, yet again, the ending of an era, of these great giants of apartheid [resistance] as they pass on,” she added.

Kathrada gave an emotional speech at Mandela’s funeral, in which he said he had lost a brother.

Kathrada was, until recently, still active in public life. He formed his own foundation and advocated strongly for human rights causes such as youth development, anti-racism, and freedom of speech.

Last year, he joined a movement of veteran figures who were critical of the governing ANC and its current crop of leaders – particularly President Jacob Zuma , who has been mired in mounting allegations of corruption . Kathrada penned an open letter to the president and called on him to step down.

“Right to the very end he kept himself relevant, he was a newsmaker, he was honest and true to his values and his beliefs,” Page said. “And that’s why so many millions of South Africans will be very sad at his passing today.”

“This is a great loss to the ANC, the broader liberation movement and South Africa as a whole,” Neeshan Balton, head of the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation, said in a statement.

“‘Kathy’ was an inspiration to millions in different parts of the world.”

Kathrada’s activism against the white-minority apartheid regime started at the age of 17, when he was one of 2,000 “passive resisters” arrested in 1946 for defying a law that discriminated against Indian South Africans.

In July 1963, the police swooped on Liliesleaf Farm in Rivonia, a Johannesburg suburb where Kathrada and other senior activists had been meeting in secret.

At the famous Rivonia trial, eight of the accused were sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labour on Robben Island.

His fellow prisoners included Mandela, Walter Sisulu and Denis Goldberg.

The explosion took place on Thursday evening when a security patrol came upon a militant planting the device by a road in the town of el-Arish.

The Associated Press, Egypt

Friday, 10 March 2017

Egypt’s Interior Ministry and security officials say militants have detonated a roadside bomb, killing two officers and wounding four in the north of the restive Sinai Peninsula.

The explosion took place on Thursday evening when a security patrol came upon a militant planting the device by a road in the town of el-Arish. Security forces fired and killed the militant while his accomplices fled, setting off the device.

The security officials say the two slain officers were a lieutenant-colonel and a captain. An explosives-laden suicide vest was also found at the site of the blast. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to talk to the media.

Egypt has been battling an insurgency in northern Sinai, mainly by militants from an ISIS affiliate.

]]>http://dawatmedia.com/world-news/egypt-says-two-security-officers-killed-four-wounded-in-sinai/feed/0Seventeen killed in Angola stadium stampedehttp://dawatmedia.com/sport/seventeen-killed-in-angola-stadium-stampede/
http://dawatmedia.com/sport/seventeen-killed-in-angola-stadium-stampede/#respondTue, 07 Mar 2017 14:29:21 +0000http://dawatmedia.com/?p=127Panic grips crowd at league game in Angolan capital with scores wounded and children among the dead.

At least 17 football fans were killed after a stampede broke out at a stadium in northern Angola, police said, in an incident that also left scores of people wounded.

A wave of panic spread through the crowd on Friday, at a league game in the town of Uige, between the Santa Rita de Cassia and Recreativo do Libolo football clubs.

“There was a blockage at the entrance to the January 4 stadium … this obstruction caused multiple fatalities and there are 56 injured in the hospital,” police spokesman Orlando Bernardo told the AFP news agency.

Bernardo said several children had been killed.

Police said the dead were either trampled or suffocated after they were pushed to the ground. Hundreds of people with tickets had reportedly attempted to enter the already overcrowded stadium.

A history of stampedes

“It is all the fault of the police. It was easy to avoid. They just need to extend the safety cordon,” Pedro Nzolonzi, the president of the Santa Rita de Cassia club, told Portuguese news agency, Lusa.

“There was serious police error in letting the people so close to the field … Many of them did not want to pay and those who had tickets could not get in. Then, the confusion began.”

The Recreativo do Libolo club said in a statement: “While the players were on the field, outside fans were trying to get into the stadium and a gate probably gave way to the pressure of the crowd causing several people to fall who were literally trampled on by the crowd.”

Angola, ranked 148 in the world, is a minor power in African football.

Football matches in Angola have a history of stampedes and deaths, often caused by overcrowded stadiums. There is also periodic crowd violence at matches.

Source: News agencies

]]>http://dawatmedia.com/sport/seventeen-killed-in-angola-stadium-stampede/feed/0Libyan National Army loses control of major oil ports to armed factionhttp://dawatmedia.com/world-news/libyan-national-army-loses-control-of-major-oil-ports-to-armed-faction/
http://dawatmedia.com/world-news/libyan-national-army-loses-control-of-major-oil-ports-to-armed-faction/#respondMon, 06 Mar 2017 20:28:26 +0000http://dawatmedia.com/?p=41

Spokesman of Libyan National Army (LNA) colonel Ahmed Al Masmary gestures during a news conference in Benghazi, Libya, March 3, 2017. (Reuters)

Reuters, Benghazi

Saturday, 4 March 2017

An armed faction entered two major Libyan oil ports on Friday, pushing back forces that captured and reopened the terminals in September, officials and residents said.

The move risks increasing the fighting around the ports and casts new doubt over Libya’s attempt to revive its oil production. The terminals at Es Sider and Ras Lanuf are two of Libya’s largest, with potential combined production capacity of about 600,000 barrels per day (bpd).

It was unclear late on Friday to what extent the faction that attacked, the Benghazi Defence Brigades (BDB), had gained control over the area. There was no statement from the Libyan National Oil Corporation (NOC) in Tripoli, which restarted operations at the ports after the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA) took them over seven months ago.

Since then the LNA’s opponents have launched several unsuccessful attacks against the ports in Libya’s eastern Oil Crescent, in a campaign linked to a broader conflict between factions based in eastern and western Libya.

The LNA had said the ports were well secured. But it said the BDB had launched a rapid, three-pronged attack early on Friday that pierced its defenses.

Air strikes repelled an attack targeting a third port, Brega, but the LNA withdrew men and equipment around Es Sider and Ras Lanuf to avoid a damaging fire fight, LNA spokesman Ahmed al-Mismari said.

Port engineers, oil sources and residents said the BDB entered both Es Sider and Ras Lanuf ports after the attack.

The BDB posted pictures of its fighters at Ras Lanuf’s nearby air strip, though the LNA later said it had retaken control there.

At least nine men loyal to the LNA were killed and eight wounded in the fighting, a medical source said.

The LNA took Es Sider, Ras Lanuf, Brega and Zueitina oil ports in September. All but Brega had long been blockaded. After the NOC reopened them, Libya’s oil production more than doubled.

The Benghazi Defence Brigades are composed partly of fighters who were ousted from Benghazi by the LNA, where LNA commander Khalifa Haftar has been waging a military campaign for nearly three years against Islamists and other opponents.

The LNA brands its opponents as Islamist extremists, and each side accuses the other of using mercenaries from Libya’s sub-Saharan neighbors. Some in the east also accuse elements of the U.N.-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli of backing the BDB and their allies.

The GNA’s leadership strongly condemned Friday’s escalation, saying in a statement that it “did not give any order to any forces to move towards that area”. It suggested the attack could be an effort to scupper Libyan and international efforts to bring peace.

Libya has recently been producing about 700,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil, more than double its output early last year but still far less than the 1.6 million bpd the OPEC member was pumping before the 2011 uprising.

The Oil Crescent ports suffered major damage in previous rounds of fighting and are still operating well below capacity.

Tankers have been loading at Es Sider since December, with the Amalthea due to arrive on March 7 to load 630,000 barrels for Austria’s OMV, according to shipping sources.

The NOC has been lobbying foreign firms to return to Libya and invest in the oil and gas sector as it tries to push production to 1.2 million bpd later this year.